I thought this tasted very good but my father said it was bland and refused to eat more than one slice. I'm not sure why since the filling was creamy with the two cheeses but also had a strong onion taste to it. The phyllo was hard to work with (kept tearing) so if I made this again I would put it in a more traditional pot-pie type crust, but the filling itself was very good. I think it would work well even as a ravioli filling.

Can I give it 6 stars? This is by far the best cake I've ever had, period (all flavors included). My 68 year old father said he'd had none better, and it was my first time making carrot cake, so that's a testament to how easy to follow this recipe is. Like others here, I used 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown. Also I cut the oil to 3/4 cup and used 1/2 cup applesauce to supplement, and added a little nutmeg into the mix. If there is any problem with this cake it is that the total thing (with frosting) I calculated out to be about 7600 Calories. Split it to 8 pieces, that's just under 1000 Calories a slice, or in other words, 50-75% of one's daily recommended intake. Because of that this cake will only be made for very special occasions, otherwise I would have it weekly. Oh god it is so MOIST! n_n

Since the recipe did not specify which apples to use I tried a variety (about 4 flavors; 2 apples of each). That way if some were too sweet others would balance them out. I added no water and yet 7 hours later I had made apple soup. Far, far too watery to be applesauce. Also, the end result was too sweet to be edible. I tried again later with a different set of apples, less sugar, and more spice and got the same result: too sweet and watery.

Like many, I changed a few things: 1. I used a 14 oz can of Fire Roasted Chipotle tomatoes instead of a whole tomato + tomato sauce 2. I don't like celery or zucchini, so I replaced them with frozen peas and corn. 3. I cooked the rice and lentils in vegetable broth rather than water. Aside from that I followed it exactly and it was bursting with flavor. The best part of this recipe is that it is easily adaptable to whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. I was afraid it might be too light, but the lentils gave it bulk so it was very filling. A good meal to come home to on a cold night.